Mideast Talks Must Resume Before

Muslim Hardliners Attain Power

March 17, 1994

The Middle East cauldron boils and bubbles, and somebody better turn down the heat or peace prospects will evaporate.

In a painfully familiar scenario of violence, the Hebron massacre was followed by anger and shooting, protests and threats, wounding and dying. Throughout the West Bank and Gaza, and in Israel itself, anxiety and intensity mounted to nearly unbearable levels, and doves of peace on all sides could barely be heard above gunshots and screams.

A lot of "vowing" is going on, to no practical purpose. Yasser Arafat of the PLO vows the Palestinians won't return to the peace table until their lives are better protected in the occupied territories. Yitzhak Rabin, Israel's prime minister, vows he won't compromise his nation's security to restart the peace talks.

A huge pro-peace protest in Tel Aviv was followed by a large anti-Palestinian rally. When Likud leader Benjamin Netanyahu spoke to Jewish settlers and other right-wingers in Tel Aviv, he actually was booed for calling the Hebron massacre a crime. And Netanyahu's on the settlers' side.

The next step is expected this week at the United Nations. The Security Council will vote on a resolution condeming the killing of 30 praying Palestinians by a Jewish settler from America who emigrated to Kiryat Arba, near Hebron.

To be fair, the U.N. also should condemn Palestinian gunmen for killing 28 Israelis since the declaration of principles was signed last September by Arafat and Rabin. Assassinations and murders are being committed by both sides, and all of it deserves the strongest censure.

What's next? The United States and Russia both have sent high-ranking diplomats to the Middle East to urge resumption of talks. No tangible, public results emerged, although there probably will be a delayed, positive impact toward resuming negotiations.

There's still no agreement on how to protect Palestinians from angry Jewish settlers. Testimony at Israel's inquiry into the massacre at Hebron revealed Israeli soldiers were under orders not to shoot at settlers, even if they were trying to kill someone. Some form of international presence could be set up in Gaza and the West Bank to tamp down violence.

It's time to return to the peace talks, because both sides have a powerful impetus to reach a comprehensive agreement. The PLO and Israel both fear the increasing power of Hamas and other hardline Muslim fundamentalist groups. If Hamas wins the allegiance of most Palestinians, the PLO will fade to insignificance and Israel will face endless more years of bloodshed.

President Clinton and his diplomats can't ease up. They must continue pressure to resume talks. Of course there's no guarantee real peace will emerge, but the chances are better when antagonists sit around a table instead of shooting in the streets, temples and mosques.